Foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure

ABSTRACT

A foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure includes: a cup body, a shape-fixing ring nested on the opening of the cup body, and a cup cap fitted to the shape-fixing ring. When the cup body is deformed due to the effect of force, the side wall of the cup body is prevented from experiencing a large twist due to the deformation of the opening of the cup, thereby effectively alleviating the disadvantages of an existing foldable cup: the existing foldable cup easily topples and falls due to the deformation of the opening of the cup, causing a liquid in the cup to be splashed. Further, when the side wall of the cup body is extruded, the liquid in the cup does not flow out from the joint position between the shape-fixing ring and the cup cap, thereby improving the practicability of the foldable cup.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a foldable cup, and more particularly to a foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure.

Related Prior Art

As general cups are inconvenient to carry around, in order to meet the needs of users for convenient storage and carrying of cups, a conventional cup for convenient storage includes a base and a plurality of frames. By providing the plurality of frames on the base, and each frame has its lower inner edge snapped with the top outer edge of an adjacent frame, before using the cup, the user has to unfold the frames and make them fastened with each other. Further, the frames are made of a hard material, and if they are made of plastic, the plastic will be likely to release toxins when exposed to heat, which leads to restriction of application. If they are made of metal, users will be easily burned when the cup holds hot drinks. Therefore, the structure of this cup has its limitations in use.

In view of this, a conventional foldable cup is provided with a plurality of grooves at intervals on the outer surface of a container made of silicone, and the foldable cup can be folded by the plurality of grooves, is easy to clean, less likely to be deformed, and can be reused. Preferably, the silicone can be used to contain high-temperature contents without burning the user.

However, because the foldable cup is made of silicone, it will still deform if it is squeezed by external force. Therefore, the opening of the cup body will be deformed when the cup body is deformed by force, which further leads to severe deformation of the cup body, and the existing fold is derived, causing the problem that the cup is easy to pour and spill the contained liquid. If the user uses the foldable cup to hold hot drinks, it is more likely to cause injury to the user. In summary, the existing foldable cups are easily twisted when the opening of the cup body is deformed, therefore, there still is room for improvement.

The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

SUMMARY

In order to solve the problem that the existing foldable cup is easily twisted when the opening of the cup body is deformed, causing the foldable cup to fall easily and splashing the contained liquid, the invention uses a shape-fixing ring nested on the opening of cup body to maintain the shape of the opening of cup body, which can effectively improve the distortion of the existing foldable cup, which is further explained as follows.

The present invention is a foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure, the foldable cup comprises a cup body and a shape-fixing ring.

The cup body has a opening, and at least two folding portions on a lateral surface of the cup body, wherein the at least two folding portions are spaced and annularly arranged on a lateral surface of the cup body, the cup body is foldable via the two folding portions; and

the shape-fixing ring is combined with the cup body and nested on an inner surface of the opening of the cup body.

Furthermore, a plurality of positioning flanges are spacedly provided on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring.

Furthermore, the shape-fixing ring extends upward to cover a top edge of the opening of the cup body in an annular manner.

Furthermore, the at least two folding portions are a first folding area and a second folding area, the first folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an outer surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle area and close to an upper half of the cup body, so that the portion of the cup body below the first folding area is foldable upward in a portion of the cup body above the first folding area, and the portions of the cup body below and above the first folding area have their inner surfaces facing each other; the second folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an inner surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle portion and close to a lower half of the cup body, so that the portions of the cup body above and below the second folding are foldable against each other and have their outer surfaces facing each other.

Preferably, when the cup body is in a folded state, a lower edge of the shape-fixing ring is higher than a position of the two folding areas.

Preferably, a cup cap is combined with the shape-fixing ring and has two ribs spaced in a vertical direction and arranged in an annular shape, when the shape-fixing ring is combined with the cup cap, the plurality of positioning flanges are restricted between the two ribs, and the two ribs are abutted against the inner surface of the shape-fixing ring.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a partial cross-section of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a partially magnified side sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective external view of a folded state of a partial cross-section of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a folded state according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partially magnified side sectional view of a folded state according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a partially magnified side cross-sectional view of a use state of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will be clearer from the following description when viewed together with the accompanying drawings, which show, for purpose of illustrations only, the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.

The present invention is a foldable cup with a reinforcing structure. The preferred embodiments are shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the foldable cup comprises: a cup body 10 and a shape-fixing ring 20.

The cup body 10 is made of silicone material, has a opening 11, and is provided with at least two folding portions. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the at least two folding portions are a first folding area 12 and a second folding area 13. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first folding area 12 is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an outer surface of the cup body 10, and is located at the middle area and close to the upper half of the cup body 10. As shown in FIG. 5. The portion of the cup body 10 below the first folding area 12 can be folded upward in the portion of the cup body 10 above the first folding area12, so that the portions of the cup body 10 below and above the first folding area 12 have their inner surfaces facing each other.

The second folding area 13 is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from the inner surface of the cup body 10, and is located at a middle portion and close to a lower half of the cup body 10, and spaced from the first folding area 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the portions of the cup body 10 above and below the second folding are 13 can be folded and have their outer surfaces facing each other. The cup body 10 is folded upward and inward via the first folding area 12, and then is folded inward and downward via the second folding area 13, so that the cup body 10 is folded along the two folding areas 12, 13 into a shape as shown in FIG. 5, which can make the cup body 10 have the advantages of small volume and convenient storage.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 4, the shape-fixing ring 20 is a metal ring fixed to the cup body 10, nested on an inner surface of the opening 11 of the cup body 10 and extends upward to cover a top edge of the opening 11 of the cup body in an annular manner. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the cup body 10 is in a folded state, the lower edge of the shape-fixing ring 20 is higher than the position of the second folding area 13, so that the shape-fixing ring 20 can be combined with a cup cap 50 without being blocked by the cup body 10 after being folded.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a plurality of positioning flanges 21 are evenly and spacedly provided on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring 20. The plurality of positioning flanges 21 are located on the same horizontal plane and have the same height. The cup cap 50 has two ribs 51 spaced in a vertical direction and arranged in an annular shape. When the shape-fixing ring 20 is combined with the cup cap 50, as shown in FIG. 7, the plurality of positioning flanges 21 can be restricted between the two ribs 51 to allow the shape-fixing ring 20 and the cup cap 50 to be firmly combined, in such a manner that the two ribs 51 abut against the inner surface of the shape-fixing ring 20, so that the liquid in the cup body 10 will not flow out through the joint of the shape-fixing ring 20 and the cup cap 50.

Preferably, as shown in FIG. 8, when the cup body 10 is used to hold beverages and placed on a bearing surface 70, since the cup body 10 is made of silicone material, the bottom of the cup body 10 will be deformed by force, and will be deformed from bending inward to become flat against the bearing surface 70, forming a vacuum-like suction effect. The friction between the cup body 10 and the bearing surface 70 can provide a good anti-slip effect, and the portion of the lateral surface of the cup body 10 near the bottom will generate an outward expanded deformation, which allows the cup body 10 to stand more firmly on the bearing surface 70, effectively prevents the cup body 10 from sliding relative to the bearing surface 70, and the cup body 10 is more difficult to fall.

Based on the above technical features, by arranging the shape-fixing ring 20, the cup body 10 has a shape fixing effect at one end of the opening 11 of the cup. Accordingly, in the present invention, when the cup body 10 is deformed due to the effect of force, the side wall of the cup body 10 is prevented from experiencing a large twist due to the deformation of the opening 11 of the cup, thereby effectively alleviating the disadvantages of an existing foldable cup: the existing foldable cup easily topples and falls due to the deformation of the opening of the cup, causing a liquid in the cup to be splashed. Further, because of the shape-fixing ring and the cup cap, when the side wall of the cup body is extruded, the liquid in the cup does not flow out from the joint position between the shape-fixing ring 20 and the cup cap 50, thereby improving the practicability of the foldable cup. Accordingly, the foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure is provided.

While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it is clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

By arranging the shape-fixing ring, the cup body has a shape fixing effect at one end of the opening of the cup. Accordingly, in the present invention, when the cup body is deformed due to the effect of force, the side wall of the cup body is prevented from experiencing a large twist due to the deformation of the opening of the cup, thereby effectively alleviating the disadvantages of an existing foldable cup: the existing foldable cup easily topples and falls due to the deformation of the opening of the cup, causing a liquid in the cup to be splashed. Further, because of the shape-fixing ring and the cup cap, when the side wall of the cup body is extruded, the liquid in the cup does not flow out from the joint position between the shape-fixing ring and the cup cap, thereby improving the practicability of the foldable cup. Accordingly, the foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure is provided. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A foldable cup provided with a reinforcing structure, comprising: a cup body having a opening, and at least two folding portions on a lateral surface of the cup body, wherein the at least two folding portions are spaced and annularly arranged on a lateral surface of the cup body, the cup body is foldable via the two folding portions; and a shape-fixing ring combined with the cup body and nested on an inner surface of the opening of the cup body.
 2. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of positioning flanges are spacedly provided on an inner surface of the shape-fixing ring.
 3. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the shape-fixing ring extends upward to cover a top edge of the opening of the cup body in an annular manner.
 4. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein the at least two folding portions are a first folding area and a second folding area, the first folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an outer surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle area and close to an upper half of the cup body, so that the portion of the cup body below the first folding area is foldable upward in a portion of the cup body above the first folding area, and the portions of the cup body below and above the first folding area have their inner surfaces facing each other; the second folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an inner surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle portion and close to a lower half of the cup body, so that the portions of the cup body above and below the second folding are foldable against each other and have their outer surfaces facing each other.
 5. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein when the cup body is in a folded state, a lower edge of the shape-fixing ring is higher than a position of the two folding areas.
 6. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least two folding portions are a first folding area and a second folding area, the first folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an outer surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle area and close to an upper half of the cup body, so that the portion of the cup body below the first folding area is foldable upward in a portion of the cup body above the first folding area, and the portions of the cup body below and above the first folding area have their inner surfaces facing each other; the second folding area is formed by being recessed in a circular shape from an inner surface of the cup body, and is located at a middle portion and close to a lower half of the cup body, so that the portions of the cup body above and below the second folding are foldable against each other and have their outer surfaces facing each other.
 7. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 6, wherein when the cup body is in a folded state, a lower edge of the shape-fixing ring is higher than a position of the two folding areas.
 8. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein when the cup body is in a folded state, a lower edge of the shape-fixing ring is higher than a position of the at least two folding areas.
 9. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 5 further comprising a cup cap which is combined with the shape-fixing ring and has two ribs spaced in a vertical direction and arranged in an annular shape, when the shape-fixing ring is combined with the cup cap, the plurality of positioning flanges are restricted between the two ribs, and the two ribs are abutted against the inner surface of the shape-fixing ring.
 10. The foldable cup provided with the reinforcing structure as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a cup cap which is combined with the shape-fixing ring and has two ribs spaced in a vertical direction and arranged in an annular shape, when the shape-fixing ring is combined with the cup cap, the plurality of positioning flanges are restricted between the two ribs, and the two ribs are abutted against the inner surface of the shape-fixing ring. 